Anxiety In The Pigman

Imagine having to hide a certain action or event from a person who is close, whether hiding it requires distorting the truth or avoiding them so that it is not accidentally brought up. However, it can be easily seen that revealing what has actually happened would end anxiety caused by struggling to hide it, regardless of whether it is accepted or rejected by others. In a novel called The Pigman by Paul Zindel, the three main characters, John Conlan, Lorraine Jensen, and Mr. Pignati, learn that being honest and “coming clean” to close ones is always the best choice of action. Additionally, they could see that hiding the truth would only make others seem more distant and unapproachable, and continually cause feelings of guilt. One of Benjamin …show more content…
First, one of the narrators of the story, John Conlan, likes being seen as individualistic in a way that makes him stand out, but fears being considered irrelevant and does not like to express his true thoughts or emotions. However, as the story progresses, he is eventually convinced by Lorraine to be the one to “come clean” to Mr. Pignati about how their first call with him was a prank-call after the two had become closer to him in. Throughout his confession in chapter ten, he also says that he felt guilty about lying, and decided to speak his true thoughts when he is told that they had to be truthful. By doing this, he discovered the concept of telling the truth regardless of the situation after the Pigman forgave them and was able to do so by becoming closer friends with him through it. The event also taught him that it is always best to be honest because he and Lorraine were able to help Mr. Pignati face the revelation as well, and expressing their true thoughts about it motivated him to accept the truth that he had been denying since before they had met